Hello,
As an Associate Professor and the Coordinator of the Community Health Program, I wanted to provide you with some insight into the Community Health program and what being a student at Governors State University will be like.
I have a DrPH (Doctor of Public Health) and a Master of Arts in Psychology, and I have been teaching at Governor State University since 2012. Just like Governors State’s Bachelor of Health Science in Community Health prepares students to plan, implement, and evaluate health and wellness programs, as a public health practitioner, I have evaluated Behavioral Health interventions to determine if they accomplish their stated goals; for instance, programs designed to address substance use disorder.
As a researcher, my interest is in how certain occurrences, e.g., childhood trauma or children living in unsafe communities, affect the child's mental, social, and physical development.
In the Allied Health fields, nursing, medicine, or public health, all of which require a good community health foundation, an emphasis on relationship building between the clinician and the patient is often missing. The Community Health program provides students with unique exposure to information and experiences that will allow them to understand the need for this aspect of care. When clinician don't respect their patients, poor health outcomes will result.
Classes in the Community Health program are often discussion-based and rely heavily on students' input and group work. No matter your field of interest, you will be a part of a team; thus, these early exposures to teamwork will help you learn to be an influential team member.
While the primary goal of all the students in the Community Health program is the same—to promote positive health practices and services, to increase awareness, and implement and evaluate programs at the community level—how you will accomplish this goal is dependent on your concentration.
Community Health majors choose between three concentrations to advance their area of academic and professional interest:
- Health Promotion Across the Lifespan
- Pre-Health Professions
- Foundations of Substance Abuse
If you’re curious about which concentration is the right choice for you, reach out to us to learn more.
We can’t wait to meet you.
Best,
Joesph Day, PhD, MA